Diagnostic description ³

Psiguria pedata (L.) R. A. Howard, J. Arn. Arb. 54: 441. 1973.

Fig. 87. C-G

Basionym: Cucumis pedatus L.

Synonyms: Psiguria trilobata (L.)R. A. Howard

Cucumis trilobatus L.

Anguria trilobata Jacq.

Anguria plumeriana Schltdl.

Monoecious vine, herbaceous, 3-4 m in length and climbing by tendrils. Stems green, slender, striate, glabrous, somewhat fleshy; mature stems fleshy, with the bark very thick, corky, and fissured, with winged longitudinal projections; tendrils lateral, simple, filiform, 10-15 cm long. Leaves alternate; blades 7-13.5 × 5-13.5 cm, broadly ovate, deltoid, 3-lobed, 3-5-foliolate, membranaceous or chartaceous, the venation 5-palmate, the apex acute or acuminate, the lobes obtuse, the base cordiform or hastate, the margins undulate, denticulate, ciliate; upper surface dark green, dull, puberulous, pustulose; lower surface puberulous, sometimes pustulose, light green, dull, with prominent venation; petioles slender, glabrous, 2.5-5 cm long. Staminate flowers in axillary racemes; peduncle as long as or longer than the accompanying leaf; calyx yellowish green, urceolate, 5-7 mm long, the lobes deltate; corolla orange, tubular, ca. 11 mm long, papillose outside, the lobes oblong, ca. 2 cm long; anthers sessile, compressed, lanceolate, 5-8 mm long; pistillode absent. Pistillate flowers solitary or in pairs, axillary, peduncles shorter than the accompanying leaf; calyx and hypanthium fusiform or tubular, 3-3.2 cm long, the lobes subrounded, apiculate, ca. 2 mm long; corolla orange, ca. 2.8 cm long, the lobes free almost to the base, obovate. Berry ellipsoid, smooth, ca. 4 cm long; seeds numerous, elliptical, ca. 7 mm long.

Phenology: Collected in flower in January, May, July, and October and in fruit in July and November.

Status: Native, locally common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 203; 7781; 10593; 10702; 11659; Goll, G.P. 627; 762; Sintenis, P. 2131; Sintenis, P. 2371. Sechium edule: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 10528; Axelrod, F. 4738. Sicana odorifera: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 12137; Sintenis, P. 5208; Stevenson, J.A. 6664.

Distribution ⁴

Distribution: Known from few old collections from Coamo, Vega Baja, and Cayey. Also in Hispaniola.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10385773
2. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10351058
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435305
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435810

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